SRSG Hans Haekkerup won a promise from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) government to reopen the border to traffic "within a few days" if the  violence subsides. SRSG had visited Skopje on 30 March to encourage the FYROM government to reopen border crossings, and to discuss the spillover of violence culminating in the civilian deaths on the Kosovo side of the frontier. While in Skopje SRSG met FYROM President Boris Trajkovski, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Srgjan Kerim. The SRSG praised the meetings as "very productive."

The border crossings represent crucial supply routes for Kosovo and its economy, said SRSG. "Even if KFOR and UNMIK personnel can still cross the border, this closure is hitting the mission hard…  Between friends, this attitude is unacceptable," he stressed.

While in Skopje, SRSG underscored the importance of ensuring  emergency deliveries of such vital supplies as medicine, oxygen and other essential items for hospitals, fuel, and potato seedlings. The SRSG also promised to try to convince the international community to accord highest priority to the border issue, although he acknowledged that "their top priority is, above all, to preserve the stability of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." Nevertheless, SRSG underlined to the FYROM government that the border's continued closure cast FYROM in a negative light with the international community.

Mr. Hans Haekkerup said today he was dismayed to learn of the four civilians deaths and the injuries incurred by many others during a mortar attack on Krivenik village, Kacanik/Kacaniku Municipality, Kosovo. British journalist Kerem Lawton was among those killed during the attack which occurred after Polish and U.S. KFOR troops pushed forward towards the border to investigate a group of armed men-apparently National Liberation Army (NLA) extremists fleeing from Macedonian forces. The four deaths and injuries of 20 other people occurred in a village located further back from the border. Both sides have agreed to a full investigation into the incident.

While reiterating the international community's "support for Macedonian government efforts to stop extremists," SRSG also stressed the utmost importance of addressing the problem politically "so the extremists will have no chance to win." SRSG also said that the local Kosovar population  was obliged to isolate the extremists.

On KFOR efforts to seal the border, SRSG underscored the importance of KFOR's attempts to stop infiltrators from Kosovo. The SRSG also noted that both refugees and extremists were crossing over into Kosovo. To counter this, SRSG is "considering issuing some regulations on crossing the border outside the crossing points." As of 31 March, KFOR had detained 79 people for illegal crossing and for illegal possession of arms. Of this number, enough evidence had been forthcoming to turn 44 over to UNMIK police, while the rest were released.
On 31 March, a UN convoy of trucks carrying essential supplies for Kosovo was allowed to cross the border.

 ICTY Chief Prosecutor wants help with investigations

Carla del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), came to Kosovo seeking help from UNMIK and KFOR on her investigations into alleged war crimes committed in Kosovo. Ms. del Ponte met with SRSG Hans Haekkerup and senior KFOR officials in Pristina to discuss cooperation in bringing criminals to justice.
 
Ms del Ponte's stay followed a visit to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) where she met with the Ministers of Justice and Interior. Del Ponte said she had informed them that the "Hague Tribunal has jurisdiction over any war crimes committed during any armed conflict in Macedonia." Answering a question, she replied that  apparently Albanian armed groups had been committing crimes. Investigators would be dispatched to verify and assess the situation, she said.

The cooperation that the Hague Tribunal is seeking from UNMIK and KFOR relates both to investigations about crimes allegedly ordered by President Milosevic in Kosovo, those perpetrated by other Serbs in Kosovo, and allegations against "non-Serbs" after the conflict ended, said Graham Dewitt, Deputy Prosecutor. Investigations of Albanian suspects in Kosovo are expected to stir up emotions in the province. Commenting on the political consequences of indicting certain  figures for war crimes, Ms del Ponte replied such ramifications were not her concern: "I am just trying to implement the mandate I received from the Security Council."
 
In the past some problems concerning cooperation on investigations against Albanian perpetrators arose, said Ms del Ponte. However, after discussions with UNMIK and KFOR in Pristina she was sanguine that such investigative cooperation would be forthcoming. SRSG said that UNMIK would maximize its efforts to support the tribunal. Many of the crimes under investigation were committed before UNMIK police was set up, he said.
 
For Ms del Ponte a major obstacle to investigating war crimes possibly perpetrated by Kosovo Liberation Army members had been removed. While Milosevic had been in power, interviewing Serbs, who had witnessed crimes in Kosovo and  later fled to Serbia, was not possible. The situation had now been reversed: "I have a team of investigators in Belgrade and I need some further cooperation here in Kosovo." After receiving assurances of such collaboration Ms. Del Ponte said she expected the investigations to be closed within a few months.
 
Once indictments have been made and arrest warrants issued--the initiative for obtaining arrest lies with the international community, she concluded.

Briefs . . . .

UNMIK has discovered that concerned citizens intent on discovering the whereabouts of their kin have been performing illegal exhumations of bodies in the Mitrovica region. UNMIK states categorically that, without a court order granting permission, such acts are illegal, even for UNMIK Police. UNMIK understands the extreme sensitivity of the issue, and that it is a  matter close to the hearts of those who lost their kin before or during the war. However, no individual or organization can unilaterally exhume bodies without UNMIK's involvement, or that of its structures. Since the end of the war the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had been undertaking exhumations. The work is now being taken over by UNMIK which is committed to resume the investigations, exhumation and reburial programme in Kosovo from May 2001.

The Division of Animal Production and Health of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry is implementing disinfection measures at various border crossings to prevent the entry of foot and mouth disease into Kosovo. Appropriate measures have been taken for Pristina Airport, and continuous coordination is being done with KFOR through daily task force meetings. Dip tanks have been installed at six border crossings and six more are being planned, each manned by eight technicians. A fees collection system has also been established.

A draft plan for the establishment of Kosovo Protection Corps Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Teams  has been finalized by the Department of Civil Security and Emergency Preparedness with the assistance of the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC). The plan envisages the establishment of one EOD team in each Regional Task Group. Additional centralized resources for the teams will be located at the Central Group in Ferizaj/Urosevac. Basic training will be organized during summer months alongside international teams, so that the KPC teams will be able to take over these tasks by January 2002.

Berndt Hartung from Germany has been named new interim international director for the Cvileni Water Company in Prizren. Mr. Hartung will head up the Cvileni Company for the next six months, during which time the permanent position for director will be advertised and filled. It is anticipated that the latter appointment will be announced within the next 2-3 months.

Seven law students from the University of Pristina have gone to Washington D.C., and Vienna, Austria, thanks to the Kosovo Law Centre (KLC). Three of them have flown to Washington D.C., to compete in the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition from 1 to 7 April 2001. This annual event is an international law competition in which oral and written arguments, related to cases from the International Court of Justice in The Hague, are presented. Some 1,500 students, representing more than 300 law schools from almost 50 countries, will take part in the contest. Four Pristina students have gone to Vienna to participate as delegates in the International Model United Nations Conference, from 1 to 5 April 2001. The Conference encourages students to become acquainted with the ideals and goals of the United Nations and will teach them multilateral diplomatic skills by providing training sessions of intense debates and negotiations in a wide range of international issues.

The deadline for submitting offers for the DM 50 million tender for the procurement of construction materials-launched by the European Agency for Reconstruction under its Year 2001 Programme for the Reconstruction of Houses in Kosovo-expires on 2 April. The offers will be opened in a public ceremony held at 10 a.m. on 3 April at the Grand Hotel first floor conference room, Pristina.

More than 100 Municipal Education Directors and  Administrators, experts, members of lead agencies and regional education officers have spent a week discussing the new educational system being set up in Kosovo. The training seminar, held in Gjakovë/Djakovica, was the first in a series of activities to implement municipal laws and their related instructions leading to a modern educational administrative system in Kosovo.

In preparation of the hand-over of primary health care (PHC) to the municipalities, the Department of Health and Social Welfare is holding intensive discussions with the Department of Local Administration on a service agreement that would form the basis of the funding of municipal PHCs. Meetings are also being held in the regions so municipalities can assume PHCs' responsibilities.

All babies should be exclusively breast-fed during the first six months, according to an information circular on breast-feeding policy, issued by the Department of Health and Social Welfare and aimed at primary health care and hospital staff taking care of deliveries, newborn babies and their mothers. The circular also states that breast-feeding should continue until the age of one year.

A facility for mentally-ill criminals will be built within the premises of the Lipjan/Lipljan prison. The Department of Health and Social Welfare will arrange training in mental health for the guards and assist the Department of Judicial Affairs in identifying and training nurses to work in the facility.

Policy proposals for the labour law in Kosovo have been submitted and approved. Accordingly, a draft UNMIK regulation is being prepared, which will contain: a) provisions on basic principles and rights at work, in compliance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) core labour standards; b) substantive provisions on employment relations, its establishment and termination, as well as terms of employment; and c) a reinforcement regime, including sanctions. The Department of Labour and Employment is issuing recommendations for individual and collective labour relations for the interim period until the regulation is promulgated.

The Department of Post and Telecommunications has transferred over 2,500 Pristina city telephone lines  from the existing analog system to the digital one, an ongoing process. It has also prepared a Frequency Allocations National Plan, which will be coordinated with all interested parties before being submitted for SRSG approval.

The route of the Pristina International Marathon, to be held 8 April, has been changed due to security considerations. The marathon will take place in and around Pristina city. The new route is: Boro e Ramiz Sports Centre-Main Bus Station-Pristina Hospital-Student Centre-Government Building-Boro e Ramiz Sports Centre. Since the changed route covers seven kilometres, the participants will have to run around it three times.